As emissions from vehicles have become a significant concern in recent years, regulatory bodies have been implementing stricter policies related to use of vehicles in and around populous areas, as well as areas not as populated. For example, jurisdictions have implemented charges for vehicles present within certain “zones” of a city, these charges being based on emissions levels of the vehicles circulating therein (e.g., CO2, NOx, particulate, etc.) The greater the emissions levels, the higher the charge for a vehicle present within the zone. Likewise, vehicles emitting the lowest levels of pollutants can be subject to reduced charges or even exempted from paying any charges at all.
In order to improve the environment and to address such policies, new technologies are being continuously developed to reduce vehicle emissions. However, such technology can be costly to develop and implement on a large scale, and this cost is ultimately transferred to a purchaser or lessee of a vehicle in the form of elevated costs and less favorable leasing terms to obtain vehicles having the newly developed technology. This elevated cost can ultimately discourage many consumers from obtaining vehicles having newer technologies that have the capability to improve the environment by way of reduced vehicle emissions.
In addition to emissions concerns, the overabundance of vehicles in and around populous areas can result in congestion of motorways, parking problems, and general unpleasantness for residents of the populous areas, among others. Therefore, regulatory bodies have also implemented policies to attempt to limit the number of vehicles in and around the populous areas. For example, allocated parking spots for a new construction building may be limited to one vehicle spot for every four occupants of the building. Alternatively, or in addition, jurisdictions may charge a fee for each car present within the jurisdiction each day.
For corporations having a need for fleet vehicles to enable their employees to travel for business related tasks, such charges can be exponentially large. Further, where regulations, corporate responsibility, or other factors require corporate fleets to meet certain emissions standards, the corporation may be forced to invest heavily to replace its existing fleet of corporate vehicles to reduce emissions and charges associated with its fleet.
JP 2009-217759 describes a system in which a vehicle is used for both business and personal travel. During operation of the vehicle for business purposes, a selecting means is operated to place the vehicle in business mode for purposes of recording the business travel. Likewise, the selecting means is operated to place the vehicle in personal mode for purposes of recording personal travel.
US 2011/0301997 describes a system wherein trip plans for a plurality of employees are logged and compared to determine where rides may be shared among the plurality of employees. Business travel is then coordinated such that redundancy in trips along similar corridors and destinations may be eliminated using either a corporate or personal vehicle. This document teaches that financial incentives are to be avoided and softer incentives should be provided to encourage participation.
In view of the above there remains a need to reduce a company's total emissions footprint associated with a corporate fleet. In addition, there remains a need to reduce the number of vehicles owned directly by the corporation and to reduce the number of vehicles continuously located within the limits of populous corporate areas.
It is accordingly a primary object of the disclosure to provide systems and methods for overcoming one or more of the above-stated problems.